TSA restarts CSC's infrastructure contract
By
Nick Wakeman
TSA tells auditors and protesters that the FAA has jurisdiction to hear protests of the Information Technology Infrastructure Program award.
The Transportation Security Administration has restarted its infrastructure contracting with Computer Sciences Corp., telling protesters that the Government Accountability Office doesn’t have jurisdiction.
The agency restarted work on the $500 million contract on Nov. 10, telling GAO, CSC, and protesters Unisys Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. that the protests were filed with the wrong agency.
The Federal Aviation Administration is the proper authority for the protest, a TSA spokesman told Washington Technology.
In the solicitation for the Information Technology Infrastructure Program, TSA told bidders that the FAA's Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition was “only proper forum for any protest,” the TSA spokesman said.
Under the FAA's acquisition regulations, contract work is not suspended when a protest is filed unless the protester requests suspension, the spokesman said.
Unisys and General Dynamics filed documents Oct. 13 with GAO protesting the TSA's decision to award the contract to CSC. Unisys is the incumbent contractor on the project, which kicked off in 2002, shortly after TSA was created.